On Monday, the Dow had a great day as it jumped up 300 points at the open and finished close to there for the day. The news was all about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the bailout by the U.S. Treasury.
The run up was not just in the U.S. market, but it was worldwide. Globally, bank stocks lead the way, after the U.S. Treasury on Sunday seized control of the two companies in what could become one of Washington's biggest bailouts ever. The homebuilders index also jumped more than 10% on the news.
Any recovery in home prices will be largely dependent on the health of Fannie and Freddie, which own or guarantee about half of all outstanding mortgages and are the biggest providers of home financing in the country. The health of the housing market is considered key to restoring luster to the U.S. economy.
Investors hope the bailout, which carries an explicit government backing for debt issued by the two companies, will shore up confidence in the mortgage market and stem a wave of bank write-downs tied to mortgage investments gone bad.
The Dow closed up 290.18 points (2.59%). The S&P 500 finished up 25.48 points (2.05%). The NASDAQ was up 13.88 points (0.62%).
Dollar Jumps
The dollar was strengthened Monday when it hit an 11-month high versus the Euro on the news of the U.S. Treasury bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Euro fell at one point to 1.4053 dollars which was its lowest reading since last October. Later in the day it traded at 1.4129 dollars at 2100 GMT against 1.4260 dollars late Friday in New York.
A very good day if you are an importer of materials or going to Europe on vacation.
Blog News
The Rollins Financial Blog turns 100 today - or at least this is the 100th post, and we are closing in on 100 daily e-mail subscribers. Not too bad in the first couple of months.
Sources: MSN.com, Yahoo, Reuters
The run up was not just in the U.S. market, but it was worldwide. Globally, bank stocks lead the way, after the U.S. Treasury on Sunday seized control of the two companies in what could become one of Washington's biggest bailouts ever. The homebuilders index also jumped more than 10% on the news.
Any recovery in home prices will be largely dependent on the health of Fannie and Freddie, which own or guarantee about half of all outstanding mortgages and are the biggest providers of home financing in the country. The health of the housing market is considered key to restoring luster to the U.S. economy.
Investors hope the bailout, which carries an explicit government backing for debt issued by the two companies, will shore up confidence in the mortgage market and stem a wave of bank write-downs tied to mortgage investments gone bad.
The Dow closed up 290.18 points (2.59%). The S&P 500 finished up 25.48 points (2.05%). The NASDAQ was up 13.88 points (0.62%).
Dollar Jumps
The dollar was strengthened Monday when it hit an 11-month high versus the Euro on the news of the U.S. Treasury bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Euro fell at one point to 1.4053 dollars which was its lowest reading since last October. Later in the day it traded at 1.4129 dollars at 2100 GMT against 1.4260 dollars late Friday in New York.
A very good day if you are an importer of materials or going to Europe on vacation.
Blog News
The Rollins Financial Blog turns 100 today - or at least this is the 100th post, and we are closing in on 100 daily e-mail subscribers. Not too bad in the first couple of months.
Sources: MSN.com, Yahoo, Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment